Love Like Crazy
by kdzl
Summary: Dave thought they were just looking for a good time. After JJ leaves with a broken heart, he follows her begging for a second chance. Can he win JJ back before it is too late? ON INDEFINITE HIATUS.
1. Looking for a Good Time

**Author's Note:** Another story written for ilovetvalot **and** the 'Pick a Pair Challenge'. I'm cheating a little, because only this first chap has to deal with this song, while the Title and the other chaps are inspired by 'Love Like Crazy' by Lee Brice.

This is the first of a multi-chap, so let me know if there's something you like to see. Some of you may be annoyed because you think I'm portraying Dave as a bad guy. Let me set the record straight here. Dave isn't a bad guy. Dave and JJ break up for normal adult reasons: someone wants something the other isn't prepared for. Just like in normal relationships, both sides mess up a little. And, as I learned from the Bachelorette, if something is as good as the relationship between JJ and Dave was, it wouldn't end unless it ended badly.

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><p>JJ pulled up her hair into a messy ponytail, wincing as she wiped the sweat that had pooled on the back of her neck.<p>

Sometimes, she hated Phoenix.

Actually most of the time outside the month of January, she hated Phoenix.

But she was dealing.

She frowned as she leaned back in her chair, stretching after hours of mind-numbing paperwork. It used to be that every file meant something, that each piece of paperwork filed in triplicate meant they were that much closer to helping families find some sense of peace.

Now, there were no dead bodies to look at or government secrets to cover up.

No, now all she did was schedule monthly press releases to tout their latest products.

She glanced out the window, her eyes landing on the tall palm trees that always seemed out of place here in the middle of the desert.

She missed the beautiful fall leaves, the budding flowers at springtime and the way the road smelled after a quick summer shower.

In short, she missed most of her old life.

But, there was no going back now.

Not after what had happened.

"_I love this. Just us." He smiled, running his fingers through her soft golden hair as they cuddled in a still passionate—albeit exhausted—embrace. "I don't ever want this to change."_

_She frowned, internally debating whether to share the news she had been keeping secret for the last two weeks. "It can't always be the same." She blurted out. "Dave—"_

_He smiled, "JJ, just think of it. You. Me. Henry. That's all we need, we're complete like this. We don't need anything else to make us happy."_

_Her mouth opened slightly to correct the direction of this conversation. Given what an amazing father-figure he was with Henry, she hadn't even considered that he might not want more children. But she had to think about more than just her and Henry now, and if he didn't want to be a part of her growing family, she needed to know now._

_Before all the paperwork went through._

_He cut her off before she could get a word in. "I know we said this wasn't going to be complicated, but Jen I want to be with you." _

_She smiled at his admission, knowing how much it took him to say that._

_Maybe that's why they fit so well together, both of them were terrified of taking that next leap._

_She supposed it had something to do with the way Will left—in the middle of the night after cleaning out every penny she owned—but when David Rossi swooped in with his checkbook and his musky charisma, she thought she had found her soul mate._

_Now her life was about to change for the better._

_And he had to decide now whether he wanted to jump on that bandwagon._

"_What about kids?" She asked suddenly._

_He paused for a minute, shifting to get a better look at her in the dim lighting. "You want the truth?" He asked, already knowing the answer as he drew light circles on the back of her hand he was still holding._

_She nodded, unable to deal with anymore lies—the beauty of her new-found fling with the FBI play-boy himself. _

"_Kids scare the hell out of me." He admitted. "I'm not good with them at all."_

"_Dave," She frowned at his words, "Kids love you. Henry loves you."_

"_Henry loves everybody." He hardened his gaze as he thought about the little boy's exiting father. "And I'd never do what La Montagne put you through. If that kid was mine, I'd always make sure I paid for my responsibilities."_

"_But—?" She prodded, sensing a reservation behind his words. Maybe honesty, in this case, was not even close to being the best policy._

_But she had to know._

_She had to know if they were just looking for a good time, or if this was something that would withstand the ages._

_She couldn't just be looking for a good time anymore._

"_But I'm old. I'm fifty-four JJ." He shrugged, wondering where this sudden indepth discussion of their relationship was coming from. They had agreed that this was supposed to be simple. It was just supposed to be fun. And though he felt himself falling for her, she knew he wasn't ready for a huge commitment._

_His statement before had been hard enough._

_Seeing the uncertainty in her eyes, he added. "I'm old enough to be your son's grandfather."_

"_So you don't want kids at all?" She sputtered, searching for solid ground as she felt the entire world crumbling beneath her._

_She had really thought this was it._

_How wrong she was._

"_Don't get me wrong—" He hedged, sensing that there was something he was missing and hoping he hadn't just put his foot in his mouth. "I love your boy like he was my own. I just—I couldn't let a mistake like that have to deal with me as a father when I'm in my seventies."_

"_A mistake?" She whispered, blinking at words that hurt more coming from him than they had from her cousin. Her drug addict cousin that agreed to let her adopt Gunner and Charlotte after she got her welfare check next month._

"_Well that's obviously what it would be." He shrugged, narrowing his eyes as he saw something behind JJ's gaze that worried him._

"_I—I should go." She mumbled, stumbling out of bed as she tried to fumble around in the dark for her clothes._

"_Jen—Damn it Jen what's going on?" He tried to stop her, floored by her reaction._

"_I'm adopting my cousin's one year-old twins." The words stumbled out of her quickly before she could stop them as she abandoned looking for her underwear, and pulled on her slacks._

"_What—?" He gulped, his mouth suddenly going dry as he watched her pick up her blouse from off the corner of the dresser where it had landed haphazardly. "What do you mean?"_

_She hesitated, unsure of how much she wanted to reveal._

"_My cousin…she…" JJ searched for the right words while her fingers stumbled over the buttons on her blouse, "She's an addict." She fell silent as if that was all the explanation she needed. Truthfully, Tiffani's situation was almost impossible to describe._

"_And?" Dave prodded, blinking rapidly as he tried to process the information._

_JJ sighed, "She's talked about how her kids were a mistake, how much she didn't want them. I was worried about them. So, last week, I asked her if she had thought of adoption." She shrugged as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "I've already filed the paperwork."_

_She didn't mention how it disgusted her how easily Tiff had been willing to part with her children, and had only grown more mortified when her own flesh and blood had asked if she could terminate contact with them permanently._

_That single solitary conversation had only cemented the feeling that this was the right thing._

_And while JJ was far from believing that she was the perfect mother, she tried damn hard. Though that was the only thing she could give the twins, she hoped it was enough._

_At the very least, it was better than the future they faced with Tiffani._

"_Are you kidding me?" He jerked away from her in shock. "When were you planning on telling me?" He asked instantly._

_She had to have known about this for a while._

_And she had just led him through a conversation where he made an ass of himself without telling him why._

"_I didn't think it was important." She backed away herself, already feeling tears sting behind her eyes. "I thought—I should go."_

"_Maybe you should," he spat, instantly regretting his words as he stumbled out of bed behind her. "Wait. Jayje, I didn't mean that." He frowned, hoping he hadn't managed to mess up everything that was good in her life._

"_Yeah." She looked at him, her eyes red as she tried to keep tears from brimming in her eyes, stopping him in his tracks. "You did."_

So here she was again, a single mother with no money.

Karma was a bitch.

But, glancing down at the picture of the three happy children on her desk, she realized she wouldn't have changed it for the world.

That night, she had changed her plans to return to the Bureau and prepared to get as far away from him as physically possible. Her next stop was the bank, quickly securing a loan to repay Dave for his help. And now, though she made plenty of money, she lived in a small home in Northern Scottsdale, barely making ends meet as she tried desperately to pay back all of the debt her ex-boyfriend had amassed in her name.

She didn't need anything else from David Rossi.

A broken heart had been plenty.

Her phone beeped and her receptionist's disembodied voice came through easily. "Ms. Garcia called to let you know she was picking up your kids from daycare." She explained, quickly rattling off her messages. "And you have two visitors out front."

JJ frowned, glancing down at her schedule. She didn't have any appointments today, and other than Garcia who had packed up and followed JJ across the country, she didn't know many people here. "Send them in."

The door opened and the first figure that entered caused her to erupt in a wide smile. "Hotch. It's good to see you. You look good."

"You look good too JJ." Another, painfully familiar voice murmured, stepping out from behind Hotch and into her office.

It only took one glance for her smile to drop, her eyes to hardening and her jaw setting defiantly. "Get out." She stood, anger and hurt fused together as it reminded her of the hole in her soul that he had ripped open. "Both of you."

"I made him bring me here, JJ." He smiled softly, his eyes full of regret. "I had to see you."

She snapped before she could even stop herself, "It's Jennifer to you." She shot quickly, livid that with one appearance he could bring up feelings she thought she had long ago buried. "You saw me. Now turn around and go home."

"I—" He started slowly, trying to piece together the speech he had rehearsed hundreds of times during the late night hours.

Hotch frowned as he watched the interaction. He had warned Dave not to upset the woman he looked to as a sister, and if JJ hadn't made him promise, he would have kicked the crap out of David Rossi a long time ago.

JJ's assistant chose that moment to step in apologetically, interrupting his explanation. "I'm sorry Jen, but Mr. Foster needs your approval of the press release by three, and Jonas Webster needs you to call him back as soon as you get a moment."

JJ smiled, relieved. "Dave, I'm busy. I really don't have the time to talk to you, so you can show yourself out." She fought the urge to shoot him a glare that contained half of the hatred toward him she felt. "Hotch, make sure you call when you get home safe."

"Of course JJ." Hotch smiled, kissing her gently on her cheek as he attempted to guide Dave out of her office.

"I'm not leaving until we talk." Dave stood, rooted defiantly before relenting slightly and taking one step back toward the door. "But I get you're busy. Dinner tonight?"

She glared at him now, unable to stop herself. "No." She wracked her brain for some kind of lie that would make a plausible excuse. Deciding to settle on the truth, she shrugged, "The kids have been sick, I—"

"Then let me bring you dinner." He cut in quickly, leaving her little room for argument. "Please."

She was about to decline anyway, to tell him to go to hell and stay there, but the pure desperation in his eyes gave her pause.

"I don't get home until five-thirty." She relented slightly, still hesitant. "I'll text you the address." She sighed, knowing that she was going to be kicking herself for months for giving in so easily.

But she wasn't exactly thinking with her head.

Damn her stupid heart.

"I'll be there." He agreed, grinning for the first time in a while at the thought that he just might be able to pull this off.

He just might be able to get her back.


	2. Be a Best Friend

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the delay. I could bore you with excuses about real life, but honestly, I find that a little boring myself so I shall refrain. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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><p>He knocked at the door promptly at five-thirty, anxiously bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet.<p>

This was it.

This was his shot.

And if he got back on that jet without making this finally right, he was pretty sure Hotch himself would skin him alive—and he was more than certain that he would hand Hotch the knife if it didn't work out.

The door opened, and he smiled at the familiar sight of Penelope Garcia, though the indignant fury in her eyes was almost entirely foreign.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice full of a hatred that matched everything he had felt in the last year and a half.

"She told me to meet her here." He explained, holding up the Five Guys and Chick-Fil-A bags, he shrugged slightly. "I wasn't sure what the kids would like, so I tried twice."

She frowned, glowering at him with all of the hatred she had amassed in the last eighteen months. "Jen said she'd be a little late." She growled.

"Are you going to let me in?" He asked, looking past the gatekeeper into the small well-kept home. "I bet the kids want to start eating." He suggested.

"Hmph." She grunted, still sizing him up closely.

"So you followed her to Phoenix?" He asked conversationally.

"I wasn't about to abandon her." She grumbled, reluctantly standing out of the way of the doorframe glaring at him as he stepped past her. Her venom hardly phased him, he had seen matching glares from each one of his colleagues over the last year.

He frowned, not really knowing what else to say. He knew Penelope Garcia for her ability to put someone completely at ease. While this was something he wasn't exactly used to, he couldn't help but feel that her fury was at least partially deserved. He stepped into the small home, smiling at everything that made this place an utter expression of what made JJ the woman he loved.

Not many people would ever see this side of her—the side that loved picture frames but couldn't quite ever come up with a way to display all of them at the same. There were papers and files stacked high on an end table, apparently in the attempt to keep it out of the kids' range but failing to create any sense of order. Her coffee table was covered in a mess of sticky fingerprints which only made Dave smile harder.

How could he have ever thought this wasn't the life he wanted?

"Burgers?" Five year old Henry came careening around the corner, his jaw dropping as his eyes widened excitedly. "I _love_ burgers."

"Wash your hands." Garcia chided, smiling easily at the adorable little boy who eyed Dave with a wide grin. "Do you remember Mr. Rossi?"

Henry scrunched up his face, obviously trying to remember as he tapped his lip lightly with his finger in an action that was inherently JJ. "Maybe." He settled on, narrowing his eyes excitedly. "Are those for me?" He asked carefully, gesturing to the bag in Dave's hand.

"They definitely are kiddo." Rossi chuckled, holding up the bag.

Henry's grin broadened, if that were possible, and Dave laughed heartily. "If you wash your hands, I'll let you have some fries too."

"I'm so sorry!" JJ blustered through the door at that instant, balancing a large stack of files and papers as she pushed her way through to where the others were standing. "I got caught up at work and…"

"Don't worry about it." Dave waved off her apology, ignoring Penelope's glare as he put his arm around the former tech. "We were just catching up on old times, weren't we Penny?"

JJ fought a chuckle at the look of pure hatred that crossed Garcia's face. "I bet you were." She murmured.

"Jen?" Penelope asked harshly, her voice low and threatening as she disentangled herself from Agent Rossi's grasp. "Can I speak with you? Privately?"

"Sure Pen—" JJ hesitated, frowning as she tried to decide where to put her many files and briefcase where the kids wouldn't be able to get to it.

"Mom. Mr. Rossi brought burgers!" Henry cried, jumping down the last three steps and crashing into JJ's legs as he hugged them tightly.

Sensing the woman he loved was struggling to juggle multiple priorities, Rossi placed the food on the table. "Henry, why don't you help me get dinner out so your mom and Miss Penelope can have a chat?"

Penelope glared at the man before tugging JJ away.

"What in the world do you think you are doing?" She hissed, just loud enough for Dave to hear in the other room.

"Garcia—"

"No! You don't get to Garcia me! I followed you half-way across the country—"

"I never asked you—" JJ tried to cut in, only to have Penelope continue as if she hadn't spoken.

"I've watched you try to pick up the pieces of your heart, and gumdrop, I love you to death but if you let that Jerk-face Meanie-head hurt you again, I'm not going to listen to you when you beg me not to send his financial life into oblivion." Penelope stopped for air, just long enough for JJ to get a word in edgewise.

"Jerk-face Meanie-head?" JJ asked with a small teasing smile.

"I've been spending some time with Henry." Penelope shrugged, unable to stifle the smile as she joined JJ and laughed at herself. Sighing, she enveloped her best friend in the tightest hug she could manage. "I just don't want to see you get hurt again."

"I wasn't hurt." JJ defended weakly. "We decided—" She trailed off at Penelope's incredulous glare.

"You weren't hurt?" Garcia scoffed. "You _changed_ your name."

"I didn't change it." JJ protested. "I just decided to have people call me something different."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Right. And that coincided with the break up just perfectly." Her face softened at the memory. "I just don't want you to go through that again."

"Me neither." JJ murmured. "But things are different now." She stated, uncertain whether that was a good thing or not. "But you don't have to worry about—"

Garcia stopped her, squeezing her hand tightly before the blonde could make yet another statement that wasn't true. Penelope saw right through JJ, even if JJ wasn't aware of it yet.

JJ was in love but still heartbroken, and despite hating the man, Garcia desperately hoped Agent Rossi could make it better.

"I'm always going to worry about you." She assured, picking up her giant bright pink purse. "But I'll let you guys have dinner without me and catch up." She winked, unable to help herself. "For old time's sake."

JJ rolled her eyes, shooing Garcia out of her house. "I'll call you later."

"You'd better." Penelope cackled, laughing as JJ slammed the door tightly.

She smiled as she found Dave buckling Charlotte into her high chair, Gunner already safely secured with the tray dangling lightly on the edge of the handle-bars. He turned as he heard her, smiling sheepishly as he gestured to the waiting trays. "I couldn't figure out how to get that stuff on."

JJ smiled, easily sliding the tray and locking it into place before repeating it with her daughter as she ruffled Charlotte's hair. "It takes some getting used to." She assured him, patting him lightly on the shoulder and guiding him to sit. "Thanks for dinner."

"No problem." Dave passed out the food, surprised at how quickly the food he had brought dissipated. He learned Henry loved hamburgers, but Gunner—JJ's little boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes—only liked French fries. Charlotte—JJ's little girl with blonde curly hair and freckles dotting the bridge of her nose, and every time he caught her looking at him, she would hide shyly while erupting in a bright smile—liked the crust off the chicken but after some coaxing from JJ would eat the rest of the nugget.

JJ felt herself grinning and smiling more than she felt like she had in her entire life. It just felt so natural, sitting beside Dave, with Gunner on her other side as Dave tried to help out Charlotte—it almost felt like they were a family. Dinner conversation was easy and lighthearted, led mostly by Henry's long tales of the joys of Elementary School.

It just felt so right.

Dave too marveled at how simple, yet special, this dinner was turning out to be. He had always been a man that frequented some of the most expensive restaurants in the country, but sitting her around JJ's kitchen table filled him with a sense of belonging he hadn't known was missing. If he closed his eyes, he could almost make himself believe that this were real, or that this were something he came home to every night.

A sharp knock at the door snapped Dave out of his small fantasy.

JJ wiped Gunner's mouth before stepping around the highchair and apologizing slightly. "Sorry, I'll just—"

"Jayje, it's fine." He smiled easily as she moved to the door to quickly dispose of the intruder.

"Jen!" A man just barely taller than JJ with light brown hair grinned as she opened the door, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I know you said you were busy tonight, but I just wanted to drop something off."

"Tom." JJ forced herself to smile, hiding the small surge of excitement she felt at the thought of David Rossi seeing her in the arms of another man. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dave stand and awkwardly join them in the front room. "I'd like you to meet David Rossi, the man I told you about."

"Thomas Strambovsky." The man smiled, not releasing his protective hold around JJ's waist as he held out his hand warmly to Dave.

"Nice to meet you." Dave smiled politely, despite the growing urge to knock this man's wide grin off his face.

"Likewise." The man grinned, leaning down to kiss JJ lightly on the cheek.

JJ, for her part, blushed and twisted out of the man's grasp uncomfortably, sensing Tom may have just pushed his luck a little too far. "Tom, you should go. I really need to put the kids down and Dave came all this way because he wanted to talk—"

Tom pulled out a video game from his briefcase and held it up defensively. "I just thought Henry might like a new videogame."

"Tom!" Henry squealed excitedly at the mention of his name, running to the other man who bent down and engaged in some complicated handshake. "You brought me Indiana Jones?" He squealed excitedly.

"I did pal, I thought maybe tomorrow you and I could try and beat the first level—that is, if it is okay with your mom." He glanced up at her, smiling widely with the knowledge she couldn't resist.

JJ frowned, hesitating. She honestly hated videogames—all videogames. But it was sweat how much Tom had integrated himself into their family, providing the father figure Henry so desperately needed.

Now, if she could only force herself to forget the man who stood watching the interaction with a fake smile and convince herself she was in love with the corporate attorney, everything would be perfect.

Damn her stupid heart.

"Yeah, sure. That should be fine." She agreed, trying to hide the bad taste in her mouth that came from the idea of her son spending any more time with video games than necessary.

Dave watched the entire interaction with a growing sense of dread. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but waltzing into JJ's life just to find another man had taken his place surely wasn't it. At the genuine sparkle of happiness that twinkled in JJ's eyes, he felt like his entire heart was shattering in an instant.

Maybe he was too late.

Maybe she had moved on.

Closing his eyes only briefly—just long enough to avoid watching JJ kiss her new man goodbye, he paused for just a moment.

What the hell was he doing here?

Did he want to get her back?

Or did he just want her to be happy?

Because obviously, with Tom and her new life, she was at least moderately happy.

If her happiness was his only goal, maybe he should throw in the towel and leave her alone.

But he could tell something was missing.

Or was that just hope? He hoped something was missing?

Grinning, he sighed with new resolve.

David Rossi was not going down without a fight. He hadn't spent years growing up in Little Italy, shirking off any ties he had to mob life, only to cower in the face of a challenge.

No, Jennifer Jareau was worth fighting for.

And he'd be damned if he let her get away again without giving it everything he had.

"Sorry about that." She cringed, wiping her lips subconsciously with the back of her hand pulling him from his internal pledge.

He smiled genuinely, putting his arm around her and feeling a thrill surge through him that she didn't shirk off his advances. "Gioia, this is your home, you can do whatever you'd like." He settled for, diplomatically.

She didn't have to know that seeing her with another man made him physically sick.

No, it was going to take more than showing up with dinner for her kids—he was going to have to woo her so subtly that she didn't even realize she was falling in love with him again until it was too late.

It was going to be difficult, but if anyone was up for the challenge, it was David Rossi.

Poor Tim Streudebegga didn't stand a chance.

He hoped.

JJ looked at him skeptically, sitting back down at the table and gently placing some more waffle fries on Gunner's tray as she watched him closely. "Really?" She asked, still not believing him despite sensing no hint of fury in his features.

"Really." He assured her, catching Charlotte's gaze and chuckling as he made the two-year-old giggle with delight. "I want you to be happy JJ." He smiled, unable to keep the sadness out of his eyes as he lied to her. He wanted more than that. He wanted to be the one who made her happy, who made her world spin. "That's all I ever wanted for you."

"I am happy." JJ lied, biting her lip as she thought of all the things she wished she could change. She wished she wasn't here. She wished things were different.

She hated that she wished he would put his arm around her again and make her feel like the weight of the world on her shoulders was nothing more than a small trial she was more than capable of handling.

He looked away, and she wondered if he could tell she was lying. "I just want to be friends." He said softly and somehow JJ knew that it killed him to say that.

It killed her too.

For nearly a year and a half she had dreamt of what it would be like to make everything right between them—to put it back like it was.

But it could never go back there.

"I'd like that." She offered softly.

Dave caught her gaze, and for just a second, she was sure he could see into her soul—see ever fear and joy she had experienced.

Turning away quickly to break the connection between them, she plucked up Gunner and Charlotte from their high chairs and smiled apologetically. "I've got to get them ready for bed—" She hesitated.

"Go." He encouraged. "Henry and I will play here until your done, right Sport?" He grinned at Henry's enthusiastic head nod, the boy's mouth stuffed with hamburger and French fries.

JJ smiled as Henry tried to swallow a mouth full of food, pushing away the thought that she wished this could be how it always was.

But that was just a pipe dream.

She and Dave were friends, nothing more.

She came down the stairs about twenty minutes later, surprised to see Dave on the couch with Henry, cursing as his character in the video game continued to jump off the ledge.

"You have to walk _straight_ on the bridge." Henry explained, grabbing the controllers from Dave's hands. "Like this."

Dave grumbled softly under his breath, "For ages 5 and up my ass." He cursed, marveling at how Henry seemed to be able to slaughter him at such an easy game.

"It's 10 and up." JJ corrected, smiling.

Dave snorted softly under his breath. "Because that makes me feel better."

"Henry why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed? I'll be up in a minute." She asked, a broad grin erupting as her son reluctantly stood and obeyed.

"Do you want me to go?" Dave asked, watching her closely.

Yes he was here, and even spending just a moment in her presence lifted the weight from his burdened soul.

But he wasn't about to make her life harder, and he could almost see the exhaustion that encumbered her.

"No." She said just a little too quickly, fighting away a slight blush. She wanted to hate him, she really did. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but feel that "I mean, you came all this way, just let me get Henry to bed and we can talk."

"I'll look forward to it." He grinned as she went back upstairs, feeling a surge of excitement at the hope that bubbled inside of him.

Maybe, just maybe, he might have a chance.

* * *

><p>Hours later, after a few glasses of wine and easy conversation, Dave mustered the courage to broach the topic that had been haunting him all night.<p>

"So tell me about him." Dave coaxed, feeling his heart shatter as he plastered a grin on his face.

"Who?" JJ narrowed her eyes cautiously.

"_Tim_." Dave stated, unable to keep the mocking sarcasm out of his voice.

"Tom." She corrected instantly, feeling slightly defensive. "He's a nice man."

He snorted again, but otherwise remained silent as she came down and sat next to him on the couch.

"Why do you care about him?" She asked suspiciously.

"We decided to be friends, remember?" He pointed out. "Friends ask about important people in their friends lives."

"Tom lives out in Mesa, he works at a law firm across the street from where I work. We met at a coffee shop nearby on my lunch hour one day." She shrugged, glancing at a picture Dave held that Tom had given her of the two of them. "He's nice."

"Nice isn't everything." Dave pointed out, grinning inwardly at the thought of dull old Tim.

"When you are a single mom, nice is a hell of a lot." She retorted, the defense sounding lame even to her own ears.

Nice was enough.

That was what she just had to keep reminding herself.

He arched his eyebrow, taking the subtle dig in stride. "But nice isn't passion. It isn't love." He added, testing the waters.

He had to know where her heart was.

"No." She agreed, sliding away from him as she felt herself pulled toward him by some magnetism she could not explain. "You are right, it's not." She admitted. "But maybe love isn't what it's cut out to be."

"Or maybe love is worth fighting for." He suggested.

She shrugged evasively. "Maybe."

He grinned as he sat back, content for now as their conversations moved onto less important topics.

While she may not know where her feelings lie, hearing that her relationship with Tim could only be described as 'nice' allowed him a sliver of hope.

Because 'nice' meant he had a fighting chance.


End file.
